Entry Requirements

Primary Teacher Training (fee funded and School Direct/salaried)

Applicants for Primary 3-7 and 5-11 (fee funded)

Chepping View Primary Academy School Centred Initial Teacher training (SCITT) offers a unique, specialist early years and primary training route to attaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). The latter is optional. We aim to attract the highest-quality candidates.

In order to train you must have:

A British Bachelor’s degree or recognised equivalent qualification. Candidates in the final year of their degree are welcome to apply. An honours degree at 2.2 or above is preferred.

A GCSE grade C/4 or above in English and mathematics

A GCSE grade C/4 or above in a science

Successful completion of both the literacy and numeracy professional skills tests prior to the course starting. We prefer that you have booked them by the time you attend interview

Work experience is encouraged, but not compulsory. It would provide an opportunity for you to explore whether this is the right career path. Please contact us if you are interested in completing work experience in one of our partnership schools.

Successful safeguarding and health checks before commencement of the course.

Any course places offered will be conditional until original documentation has been seen. This is also the case for results pending.

Applicants for Primary 3-7 and 5-11 ‘School Direct’ (salaried)

Successful salaried trainees will be paid as a full time unqualified teacher and will have been identified, through the selection process, as exhibiting the potential to be a good or outstanding teacher by the end of the programme. Salaried trainees may take on some class teaching responsibility from the beginning of the course. These places are highly competitive and all the above qualifications apply. Many of our salaried trainees have been working in schools, who have identified their suitability to train to teach and who have them made the decision to support them through training to become a primary school teacher.

Applicants for Primary 5-11 with Maths specialism (tuition fee route)

In addition to the above, applicants should have a grade B or above in ‘A’ level maths, or an equivalent qualification and an Honours degree at 2.2 or above. This course is fee funded, but there is a government bursary of £6,000 (2018-19) for successful candidates who have these qualifications.

Candidates who do not have a grade B or above in ‘A’ level maths, or an equivalent qualification may apply and be accepted, depending on the interview assessment. However, these candidates would not be eligible for a primary maths specialism bursary.

Applicants for Primary 5-11 with Maths specialism (salaried)

Successful salaried trainees will be paid as a full time unqualified teacher and will have been identified, through the selection process, as exhibiting the potential to be a good or outstanding teacher by the end of the programme. Salaried trainees may take on some class teaching responsibility from the beginning of the course. These places are highly competitive and all the above qualifications apply. Applicants should have a grade A or B in A level maths or higher, or an equivalent qualification and an Honours degree at 2.2 or above.

If you do not have the necessary GCSE results:

If you have not passed English, Maths and Science GCSEs at grade C/4 or above there are two options:

Complete a G.C.S.E qualification in the relevant subject and gain a C/4 or above before the course starts.

If you are confident that, with your current knowledge you may be able to pass an equivalency test (an officially recognised exam, prepared and externally assessed by a freelance equivalency testing service), then you can contact the agency below:

The test is not the same as a GCSE paper, but is considered equivalent for the purpose of a teacher training application.

An alternative agency is A*Star Teachers (020 7272 7070)

Work Experience

Before starting the course, we would encourage you to gain some work experience of being in a primary school; to ensure that you have sufficient understanding of the profession you are applying to join and what primary teaching and classroom environments are like. Experiencing a range of different schools and primary age groups (Key Stage 1 and 2) would be beneficial. It is an opportunity for you to ensure that this is the correct career path for you and, if completed before applying, will also provide valuable experience which could be discussed in your application and at interview. However, work experience is not a compulsory requirement. At interview there would be an assessment of your suitability to train to teach.

The more classroom experience you gain, the better prepared you will be for the training programme. You can contact any primary school to request opportunities to visit and help in class as well as our own partner schools.